Footholds & Small Increments

They can help you climb mountains, or bring you tumbling down.

Standing at the foot of Half Dome, contemplating the cable ascent to the summit.

Getting to the top of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park is no joke.

It is an iconic fixture in the surreal landscape of Yosemite Valley—iconic enough to actually be the logo for The North Face brand of clothing (in case you ever wondered what that symbol was on the back shoulder of your puffy jacket).

I set out to check this adventure off my bucket list a few years ago with a couple of my hiking buddies who happen to be some of my best friends since childhood.

The hike is about 16 miles out and back with over 5,000 feet of elevation gain. Once you reach the base of the dome, you have to scale up the slick granite surface using a system of cables and footholds (unless you’re Alex Honnold and just free solo up the face, which nobody does unless their name is Alex Honnold).

We decided to take the John Muir Trail to Little Yosemite Valley to camp the night before hiking the rest of the way to the dome. We slept that night in our little trail tents as the temperature fell to 22 degrees. The sleet falling on our tents lulled us to sleep like a white noise app.

We woke early the next morning to a layer of snow on the ground. This was not in the plans. Half Dome is a solid chunk of granite, nearly as smooth as glass with no natural footholds. The night’s precipitation meant the dome would probably be too slick and dangerous to ascend.

Luckily, the sun was shining bright that morning. Word around camp was that many were going to hike to the dome in hopes that the sun would dry it out enough to climb to the summit. We decided that was a good plan, so we filled our hydration bladders from the river, stuffed sandwiches and snacks into lightweight daypacks and set out.

The hike to the base of the dome is a butt-kicker, culminating in a scramble up the rocky sub-dome. Once there, we were greeted with the magnificent, imposing granite formation that looked like a giant ball of rock that God had sliced in half. On the surface of the dome were what looked like tiny ants acsending up the cables to reach the top.

After a breather and a quick snack, we donned gloves and grabbed hold of the cables. The ascent is so steep and slick that wooden 2x4s are bolted into the rock to provide a place for your feet to grip—footholds.

According to Merriam Webster, a foothold is “a position usable as a base for further advance.”

The wooden footholds inside the cables going up Half Dome. Yeah, it’s steep.

.According to Merriam Webster, a foothold is “a position usable as a base for further advance.”

On Half Dome, these footholds provided me “a base for further advance” that helped me get to the top—something I’m really proud of doing. Without those footholds, it would be near impossible to reach the summit.

So…that’s great. Footholds are very useful. Got it.

We now know what the dictionary says about them. So what does the Bible say about them? Ephesians 4:27 simply says this:

“…and do not give the devil a foothold.”

Woah. Sharp turn!

Just like using footholds to your advantage, like I did on Half Dome, the devil can do the same thing to his advantage. And just like the way I slowly advanced to the top one little step at a time, the devil can slowly advance right through your life. And you may not even notice.

There is a nearly imperceptible incrementalism to the insidious way he gets us to concede ground towards him and away from God.

There is a nearly imperceptible incrementalism to the insidious way he gets us to concede ground towards him and away from God.

I didn’t change from a church-going, responsible dad who liked to drink with friends on the weekends to a full-blown, non-functioning alcoholic overnight.

At some point along the way I gave the devil a foothold in my life, and he used it as his “base for further advancement.”

And advance he did.

Slowly, methodically over time he convinced me to make those tiny little concessions in my moral code, moving boundaries little by little and helping me justify it all along the way. The internal conversations go like this:

“All the guys are watching football and drinking beer at so-and-so’s house. I don’t normally drink on Sundays, but I guess it’s ok to join them. I don’t want to be the oddball.”

“It’ll be fine to stay late at the cul-de-sac party even though my wife just went home to go to bed. She won’t miss me.”

“It won’t hurt anything to skip church tomorrow.”

“It’s fine to stay up late, drink bourbon, and go into the office late tomorrow. After all, I’m one of the owners of the business. I can do whatever I want!”

And on and on.

People ask, “When did everything go wrong? What happened?”

There’s not a single thing that happened—there is a series of tiny, seemingly innocuous “single things” that happened one after the next over years and years, slowly giving ground away after layer upon layer of compromises.

Fortunately, God doesn’t abandon us. He forgives our sins, He gives us grace, He buries our past when we turn to Him. The devil won’t take you to the bottom instantly, but God can instantly lift you out of it.

Folks, do not give the devil a foothold. Instead, find yourself a foothold in God’s grace and climb your way from the cold rock-bottom up to the top of the mountain. Trust me—the view is amazing.

Atop Half Dome with the Sierra Nevadas behind me—definitely worth the effort.

Wilderness Tested is for building better men through the stories of those who’ve survived the wilderness with God’s help. If you want to help others by sharing your story, please reach out.